Congressional Redistricting
Written Testimony to PA Legislative Reapportionment Commission 10/21/21 Thank you for the opportunity to provide input. I live in PA Congressional District #16. I have lived in 3 states, and most of my life was spent working for non-profit agencies that supported people with disabilities as well as a time working for state government. I am a resident of Millcreek Township in Erie County and have lived here for 33 years. The advances in technology now make it very easy to draw gerrymandered district maps. Unfortunately, gerrymandered district maps increase partisanship, decrease cooperation and do not represent the majority of citizens. Some of the goals/criteria for Congressional maps to avoid gerrymandering, in my opinion, should be: Maps should be fair Maps should have no bias toward any political party or incumbent The 2010 map for my district split Erie County and the city of Erie into Districts 16 and 15. I now found myself in District 15. This had never been done before in all my time living in Erie, and I now found myself in the extreme western end of district 15 and no longer served by the same representative as most of my friends and neighbors. Fortunately, the PA Supreme Court found these maps unconstitutional and new and much fairer maps were drawn, and I and all of Erie County are now back in District 16. Maps should not split counties and municipalities. The above is a good example of that. Maps should not discriminate against racial and language minorities. Since the vast majority of minorities live in the city of Erie, the original 2010 map which divided the city of Erie split minority communities, so they no longer had any significant voice to their Congressional Representative. Maps should not discriminate against communities of interest. There are definitions of communities of interest and several states including Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon and Virginia have definitions of communities of interest in their map drawing criteria. Thank you for the opportunity to provide input. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Paul Carpenedo carpenedo@velocity.net